My friend's dad told me that he
went to Hull Fair one year when he was a kid in the late 1930s, he was probably about 8 at the time. At the entrance to one of the sideshows was a bloke, in his best suit and bowler hat, using the old fairground cat-call of "Roll up, roll up!" and demanded that folk "Come see the man-eating fish, only thruppence a ticket". My mate's dad thought "ok, I'm up for that." and paid the entrance fee. Him and his best mate went in, expecting to see a big tank with some sort of shark in it, or at least a big fish of some kind. But no, it was a dimly lit room which contained a table and a chair. And at that table sat a man, eating fish.

He went back outside and him and his mate voiced their disagreement. The stall holder told them that they got what they paid for. So they began shouting over him, telling people it was a "right swizz" and not to waste their money.

The stall holder took umbrage to this and clipped them both around the ears and followed this with a good firm, almost comical kick in the pants. They ran off, but came back with some old fruit* and managed to knock the blokes hat off before scarpering, much to the amusement of onlookers.



*The sort you eat, not some aged camp gentleman
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Fri 10 Jun 2011, 12:39, 3 replies)

Hmm...
Are you sure he didn't see this on some BBC2 costume drama or in the Beano?

Oh, go on then. I've logged in so you might as well have a *click*.
(Mork, Fri 10 Jun 2011, 13:10, closed)

You say The Beano
But back in the 1930s, that's how stuff happened.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Fri 10 Jun 2011, 15:16, closed)

My grandfather
used to tell almost exactly the same story, except set in Chesterfield in the 1920s.
(Zapiola zip-zap-zop, Sat 11 Jun 2011, 11:37, closed)